Field of Paper Flowers
by GarthFitzgerald
Summary: Rewrite and continuation of 'Folie a Deux'. They thought it was over, but when Cobol returns with a vengeance against everyone involved in the Inception of Robert Fischer, the team must regroup and find a way to clear their names for good. Arthur/Ariadne plus Eames/OC.
1. Chapter One

**Authors Note: This story is a re-write and continuation of the first version of this story, originally titled 'Folie a Deux'. That version will be deleted within the next week. I will be posting the rewritten chapters fairly quickly, as some of you will have read this before (considering I wrote this almost two years ago) and for those of you who did follow the original, I'm back! And I will be finishing this story. This is a A/A story, with equal Eames/OC. I myself am not normally a fan of OCs in Inception stories, but I always give my characters enough backstory and attention that you'll feel like she's part of the team, don't worry. For those of you who did read the original, you'll only really notice one change to the original plot. It's not story altering. But it did need to be done. I hope you all enjoy the rewrite and I hope new readers enjoy the story.**

* * *

It was over.

The job that took weeks to plan, solve and create. A job that seemed near impossible, a job that sent members of the best extraction team in Europe into Limbo and back. It was over.

Ariadne knew by the ghost of a smile on Cobb's face as he met with Miles at the gate, that it was, in fact, finished. She grinned at the way he and Miles led themselves out of the airport, without so much of a wave or smirk in her direction. She didn't mind - he would be with his children again, and that's what this job was about. She did, however, mind that neither Eames, Yusuf, or even _Arthur _gave her a nod, or any inkling that they even remembered that they had spent the last couple of months in each others pockets.

Yusuf, that quiet smile that he always had stuck to his face, the concentration on his features as he worked endlessly to complete the compound that would send them successfully into three levels of dream state, to let them implant thoughts into another persons head. She always noticed how he had a quiet grace to himself when he worked, and then as he was joined by fellow team members, he would act more like Eames, joking and teasing his way through days.

Ah, Eames. She smirked, as she waited for her bag on the conveyor belt, she looked around carefully to spot him. He was leant casually on a trolley near baggage claim, and she smiled again as the way he stood at that moment in time summed up his entire aura through the job. She considered him to have become somewhat of a friend, and she sighed as she realised she may never see him again. His wit, most of the time directed at Arthur in some form of a taunt, his humour, again, mostly directed at Arthur (without reciprocation) and his endless calm, that allowed him to be one of the people that kept this job together and gave it the edge it needed. She would miss him. She knew it. She also hoped that by some miracle she wouldn't have to miss him for too long - she wanted to go on more jobs, preferably with that same team. She knew, however, that it may never happen. Arthur would probably have to be the so called 'leader' now...

That thought brought her mind to the seemingly emotionless Point Man. She looked around for him too, expecting to see him glancing carefully at her in return, hoping to make eye contact so they could arrange to meet in the near future. She found however, that he had just brushed past Eames, a small nod exchanging between them, and she frowned as he made his way to the gate without so much of a backwards glance. She attempted to rearrange her facial features into something other than hurt and anger, but failed, miserably. She grabbed her suitcase that had just made it's way around to her, and stomped rather childishly towards the information desk.

Arthur had always been the subdued one - but Ariadne had seen another side of him on those many training and teaching sessions that she realised not many had the pleasure of seeing. He was funny - his humour was dry and witty, and he had a playful side that showed itself when he was relaxed and happy. He was kind and patient, and he had taught her everything he knew. She knew he was flying to Chicago, but some part of her wished he would turn around at the last moment before walking out of the airport doors, flash her a smile, offer her a surreptitious piece of paper with a phone number on it, and then, walk away, leaving her in the knowledge of his whereabouts.

He didn't.

She glanced around angrily and then noticed that Eames and Yusuf were gone too. Cobb, as she had seen earlier had left with Miles, Fischer had been picked up by a posh looking driver, and Saito had disappeared as soon as they landed the plane. This, she realised, meant she was alone.

Completely alone.

The members of the team that weren't staying in America were meant to stay in LA for a week in seperate hotels, and the members living in the US were going straight from California to wherever they were heading.

Cobb went back to his children. Yusuf and Eames were both heading back to Mombasa after the week was up, and then Eames was going back to Coventry in the UK after a stay in Kenya. Saito was going back to his business, (with the addition of his newly aquired airline) and Arthur was going to Chicago to one of his (many) homes around the world. Ariadne shook her head as she heard Arthurs voice in her head.

_'We can't afford to be caught. We need to split up as soon as we touch stateside soil, and stay low for a week. Then, you can head back to Paris, Ariadne.'_

Fuck him, she thought.

If she wanted to go back to Paris right away, she would. She looked at the woman working behind the information desk and tapped the counter lightly, getting her attention.

"Excuse me, I would like a seat on the next direct flight to Paris, please," She pursed her lips and typed a few things on the computer, before smiling a little.

"There's a flight available tomorrow night at Eight PM, that is the earliest possible I'm afraid," Ariadne nodded and shrugged.

"That's fine."

Ariadne woke the next morning feeling a lot better than she had felt after stepping off of the plane after the Fischer job. Between running around in three different layers of dreams, plus finding herself in Limbo as an added bonus, her mind was the most tired it had ever been. She awoke at around noon, staring at the ceiling for a while and attempting to rearrange the thoughts in her head.

Fischer.

Inception.

Arthur.

Cobb.

Arthur.

Inception.

Money.

Arthur.

Limbo.

Arthur.

Fischer.

Limbo.

Cobb.

Arthur.

Arthur.

Arthur.

_Arthur._

She shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking about him. She shouldn't be thinking _that way _about him. She shouldn't even care that he had left the airport with no appearance of ever wanting to see her again.

Didn't he say she was the best arcitect he had ever seen? Wasn't it _him _who kissed _her _on the job?

She shook her head again. _'No point dwelling on the past, Ariadne.'_

As she groaned at the inability to get rid of certain thoughts, she clicked on the television, switching to the news.

_"-arrived at an emergency press conference, after a request from Robert Fischer, heir to the second biggest energy corperation, apparently congregated the worlds media for a shock announcement-" _Ariadne widened her eyes, turning the volume up and glueing her eyes to the television. Surely it couldn't have happened this quickly? Didn't Cobb say the idea had to grow in his mind? Maybe the team did a better job that they thought...

_"I am here today to announce a big change in the Fischer business. I am here to tell you all today that I am liquidising everything in my father's empire-" _There were gasps among the media in the audience, "_And leading my own life into using that money to discover my own plan and discover my own true meaning in the world of business. It is my father's wish that I build something for myself, and that is what I plan to do," _Ariadne clapped gleefully.

They had succeeded the worlds first team Inception. Spectacularly.

She squealed a little and immediately her phone began to ring. She squinted her eyes at it for a moment before pressing the button to answer.

"Hello?"

"Am I speaking with Ariadne Bishop?"

"Yes, can I ask who is calling?" She furrowed her eyebrows at the unfamiliar number and the unfamiliar voice.

"Jennifer Young. I am a secretary working for Mr. Saito. I have been informed to contact you to let you know that in the past few minutes Mr Saito had ordered your payment, and it has cleared successfully." Ariadne smiled happily, before thanking the woman on the end of the phone. She hung up, and sat back slightly. She was pretty wealthy now, after this job, and she intended on going on a shopping spree as soon as she returned to Paris. She didn't think about Arthur as she planned on things to buy.

* * *

She stepped into her apartment building less than Eighteen hours later, walking up the stairs and fumbling around in her suitcase for her keys. She smiled slightly at the welcome sight of her front door, and took a deep breath before stepping into her home.

Everything looked the same as when she had left it, and she threw her keys on the side table before rushing over to collapse on the bed. She stared up at the ceiling as she was prone to do, and sighed.

She was rich. She had just created worlds within dreams. She had visited Limbo and pulled herself out. She had helped a man get back to his children. She had created penrose steps and impossible structures, and she had created cities and hospitals, along with a couple of very good looking hotel rooms. She had met people she would never forget, laughed until her sides hurt, been blown away by the concept of dreams, and kissed a man she truly enjoyed spending time with.

Now, she was in a small apartment, in a city she had lived for years, with nothing to do but study for exams. Her friends felt like strangers after the life she had led for the past few months, and the only other people who understood what she was going through were unreachable. The man who kissed her left without a goodbye, she had no way of getting back into the dream world and creating again, and she didn't think she would ever see any of the team again.

She stared back up at the ceiling and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

_**Six Months Later**_

* * *

Arthur remembered walking out of that airport. He remembered the quick exchange with Cobb, the silent nods to each of the team members, except one. He knew he couldn't risk giving her the idea that she might ever see him again. He knew if he pulled her hopes to the surface, she may never be able to accept the fact she would be on her own for a while.

Six months ahead, and he's still, for lack of a better term, chasing his dreams. He had the occasional phone call with Dom, checking up on the children, and smiling when he heard that Phillipa had grown into a little ballerina, and was impressing her father at her frequent ballet recitals. James was a little tearaway, keeping Cobb on his toes, making sure the little boy didn't get into too much trouble. Cobb was stressed - but he loved it. It was the painless sort of stress, the stress that comes before a big performance, or the kind of stress when organising a wedding. Arthur was pleased that Cobb had found peace, at last.

He had no contact with anyone else. Yusuf was his own man, he was only with them for one job, and with the exception of Inception, didn't go into the field anyway. Eames was a pain, Arthur avoided unnecessary contact with him most of the time. He knew he was back in England, probably hunting out small forgery jobs. Saito was back in business, his corperation booming after the announcement of the break up of Fischer Morrow. Then there was the absence of contact with another team member.

Ariadne.

The name stuck with him like a virus, unwilling to deter from both conciousness and unconciousness. He missed her, he had to admit it. She was a perfect arcitect, and a lovely person all round. That being said, he avoided France like the plague. He didn't want to bump into her, have to explain why he left her without so much as a goodbye, even though thats the way their business worked. She hadn't managed to find out how to contact him, so he wasn't going to push it. He would just have to live with the memory he had of her.

The phone call came at Four AM. Arthur cursed under his breath and slapped his hand on the beside table in the hotel in Austria, feeling his way towards the ringing sound of his phone. He pushed the answer button angrily and grunted into the speaker.

"Hello?"

"Arthur?" He raised an eyebrow at the voice.

"Eames. What in gods name do you want at Four in the morning?" He heard Eames chuckle on the other end of the line.

"It's Three in the morning here, the time difference must have slipped my mind," Arthur rolled his eyes in frustration and hissed back towards Eames.

"Fine, why are you calling at Three in the morning you ignorant asshole?" Eames chuckled on the other end.

"What I want, is to know why in god's name I've got _your _tail on my back. I do believe I've never had dealings with Cobol Engineering, so I'm wondering what I must've done to piss them off, other than work with you six months ago, of course," Arthur sat up almost instantly at the mention of Cobol, and hissed as he felt his head rush. He stood up and began pacing the room, speaking more clearly into the phone. Eames began to talk again after the silence of Arthur became deafening.

"Look, Arthur, I've got a feeling they're trying to get to you and Cobb through me. Here's the rub - if they're trying to get to you through _me, _then I'm assumeing they're tailing everyone that worked on the Fischer job. Which means-"

"Ariadne."

"What?" Arthur shook his head after mumbling her name under his breath, and took a deep breath, focusing back on Eames.

"Nothing. I'll let Cobb know what's going on. Then we need to visit Mombasa and inform Yusuf. He shouldn't be too much of a target, he was only our chemist, but he needs to know what's going on. Then we'll-"

"Go to Paris. Yeah, yeah, I get the idea. Look, not that I don't appriciate your 'can do' spirit and all, but I don't fancy flying all the way to the good old US of A just to go back to Mombasa and then to France, which is next door to where I am now. Let me know when you reach Paris, and I'll meet you there before we visit our little Architect." Arthur nodded.

"That's fine. Just make sure you aren't followed into France. I don't want you bringing danger to Ariadne's doorstep." Eames laughed into the phone.

"Sure thing. See you soon." Arthur heard the dial tone and slammed his phone onto the bedside table. _This is bullshit,_ he mumbled, and took a step towards the shower.

* * *

Three days later, Arthur is stepping off of a plane onto French ground. He fishes in his jacket pocket for his phone, before seeing a message from Cobb, who he had explained the situation to before he left for Mombasa.

_Found a safe house. Kids are okay, we weren't followed. Good luck. - D_

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and made his way out of Roissy Airport, hailing a cab on the way out. He looked out of the window, choosing to relax for a moment. He had made sure all of the team were safe, so far, except for one. Eames was on his way to a cafe near their old warehouse for the Inception job, which is where he would meet Arthur. Cobb was safe, according to his recent text message, and Yusuf had agreed to lay low for a while, for the time that Cobol was chasing them. It just left Ariadne to check up on. '_She should be okay, considering Inception was her first job, she wasn't on the map until then.' _Arthur kept repeating this in his head, wondering if he was agreeing with himself, or simply trying to convince himself it was true.

Arriving at the cafe he spotted Eames, his usual calm self, fingering a teacup and sitting on a table outside.

"Arthur my dear man, took you long enough," He smiled cheekily at Arthur and the latter rolled his eyes.

"We haven't got time for this, we need to go and check up on Ariadne." Eames rolled his eyes ever so slightly, before attaching a rather smug grin to his face.

"I know you missed her Arthur, but there's really no need to be so forward about your infatuation." Arthur sneered at Eames a little.

"This is exactly the reason we haven't spoken for six months Eames. Each time I think we're getting along, you ruin it with a comment that simply makes me want to punch you," Eames chuckled again as they walked down away from the cafe, and towards Ariadne's flat.

"Oh Arthur, don't kid yourself, you adore my presence. You miss it when I'm not around." Arthur ignored his statement. Eames smiled at the silence and continued. "By the way American boy, how exactly do you know our dear Ariadne's address? I'm assumeing you did some kind of hiding-behind-dustbins jobby on this," Arthur sighed.

"Of course Eames. Yes, I took a camera and hid behind trees and lamposts to follow her home each night. I've got the pictures taped to the inside of my jacket,"

"I knew it. No, but, seriously, how do you know where she lives?" Arthur shrugged.

"Had to put together a document of information about her when she joined the team. It wasn't exactly hard to find," Eames nodded.

"Fair enough," He replied, and their conversation was halted as they arrived at her building. "Ladies first," He said to Arthur, who looked less than impressed but walked forward nonetheless. Stopping at apartment 5A, they knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

"I do hope she isn't annoyed with us," Eames mentioned, before the door swung open, revealing a man around twenty-five years of age, with a perplexed look on his face.

"Can I help you?" He questioned, and the confused looks on all three mens faces occupied the silence. Arthur finally spoke up.

"Yes, is Ariadne here?" The man at the door tilted his head.

"You mean that girl that lived here before me? No, she moved out about four months ago, she was in a real rush too, apparently she paid off the rest of her contract for the rent just so she could leave when she did. That was a good eight months rent there," He frowned. "Why?" Arthur shook his head quickly.

"It doesn't matter, thanks for your time," The man shut the door and Arthur turned to Eames.

"This isn't good," Arthur muttered, and Eames swallowed.

"Well, it doesn't matter, just search her up again and her new address will appear, right?" Arthur nodded.

"Yes of course, but we don't have much time, what if she moved to the other side of the world? We might be too late by then." Eames shrugged.

"Well we better get on with it then."

* * *

Arthur typed furiously into the computer at the hotel.

_Ariadne Bishop. Bishop, Ariadne. _

_Ariadne Bishop. Bishop, Ariadne._

_Ariadne Bishop. Bishop, Ariadne. _

_Ariadne Bishop. Bishop, Ariadne. _

Nothing.

He had gone onto every resource he had for finding addresses - and that was every resource there was. European Police, European Goverment, American Government, FBI, CIA... Nothing. The only Ariadne Greenacre he found was a Ninety-Eight year old woman living in a nursing home in Vancouver.

"Eames..." Eames looked over from his cards and frowned at the look on Arthurs face.

"What?" He asked. Arthur looked defeated.

"She's disappeared."


	2. Chapter Two

She heard the knock at the door, and ignored it. The sound invaded her sleep and didn't hit her as an important sound, so she turned over and drifted back to sleep.

She didn't dream. She hadn't had a single dream since the Fischer job, possibly because of the scale of her terror in the months afterwards.

She heard knocking again.

She ignored it.

What she didn't hear, was the sound of the lock clicking, and the door opening to people that didn't belong in her apartment.

* * *

_**The Previous Day**_

* * *

_Eames leant over the side to where Arthur was staring at his laptop. "What do you mean she's disappeared? She can't have disappeared Arthur, you know how to find everyone." Arthur glared at him slightly._

_"Shut up Eames. I know what I'm doing - I'm good enough at my job that I even know your middle name is Albert - but for some undiscoverable reason, she's not listed anywhere. No apartment rentals, no hotel bookings, no credit card transactions, nothing," Eames rubbed his face slightly._

_"Ignoring the fact that you discovered that little treasure about me, I don't think this bodes well for us, or for Ariadne for that matter," Arthur took a deep breath. _

_"I know that Eames, and I'm trying. I just don't understand how-" Arthur widened his eyes. "Eames, when did you find out that Cobol were after you?" Arthur turned quickly in Eames' direction. Eames shrugged._

_"A couple of months ago. I assumed it was one of my many tails from other companies, but I found out it was Cobol. Why?" Arthur turned back to the computer._

_"Because if Ariadne was being followed too, she may have picked up on it and moved, and used a fake name to transfer funds to and rent a new apartment. It's what we told her to do in this situation." Eames smiled._

_"Clever boy. Now how exactly are we going to guess her fake name? I'm assumeing we're not going to visit every caucasian female in the world to find her?" Arthur shook his head._

_"Well, I think I know what her first name would be. When we were on the Fischer job and we were chatting to pass the time, I asked her why her mother chose that name. She said something about myths and legends. Her father was an architect too, before he died. Apparently her mother paid tribute to that and named her after the mistress of the maze. She then said that she wished if her mother insisted on naming her after a myth, she wished her mother had named her Aurora. Ariadne prefered Roman mythology, aparently," Arthur smiled. Eames nodded and then poked Arthur in the shoulder slightly._

_"That's great. What about a last name?" Arthur sighed and pursed his lips._

_"I don't know..." Arthur put his face in his hands. Eames hummed thoughtfully._

_"How about, erm, Chess? A Bishop is a chess piece..." Arthur glared at Eames, and the latter shrugged. "Just trying to help. How about, Pawn? That's a chess piece too, right?" Arthur looked annoyed for a second again but then widened his eyes._

_"Winters. Her mothers maiden name was Winters," Eames smiled and slapped Arthur on the shoulder._

_"I knew there had to be a reason you were the point man. Here was me thinking Cobb just felt sorry for your jobless situation all these years," Arthur glared at Eames once more before typing furiously into the computer and eyeing the screen. After a few moments he smiled._

_"Gotcha',"_

* * *

Knocking. It had stopped. Ariadne smiled happily into her pillow.

_Clunk._

She snapped her eyes open, screamed, and flung herself at the intruders, hoping to throw a punch or two before being killed by whoever had found her. She dark shape she had jumped on 'oomphed' before she recognised the shapes. She stood and switched the light on before widening her eyes.

"Eames? Arthur?" Eames smirked slightly.

"Nice nightwear," Ariadne looked down and noticed she was wearing a bra and sweatpants. She rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, Eames. What are you doing here? And _how did you get in?!_" Eames shrugged in response.

"I carry a lockpick kit with me. You know that," Ariadne narrowed her eyes at the two men.

"Okay... but _what are you both doing here_?" She repeated her question and Arthur frowned.

"I thought you might be happy to see us," Ariadne shrugged.

"Well, I mean... I am. I just-" She sighed, pulling a tank top from her drawer and putting it on. "You left without a goodbye. I've had a hard time adjusting back to how things were." Eames frowned.

"How hard?" Ariadne skewed her mouth to the side.

"I don't dream. Probably because of going so deep on Inception. I don't talk to any of my friends. I feel-" She looked between the two men and sighed again. "Disconnected. I have no-one to talk to about what happened. Even Miles quit his job at the University to help Cobb with the kids. I felt alone." She sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm getting back to normal now, but... it took a while." Arthur nodded slowly, his expression softening as he sat next to her on the bed.

"I'm sorry, Ariadne. If I had known-" Ariadne interuppted him.

"You should've anticipated it... surely this is how you both felt after your first jobs?" Arthur looked at Eames and sighed.

"Not really, I mean, when both myself and Eames started out, we sort of... stuck together. I met him through an extractor we both worked with and the three of us were sort of a team." Ariadne raised an eyebrow.

"You can't stand each other." She pointed to the two of them and Eames shrugged.

"We used to get along famously. Things just..." An emotion flickered through his eyes that Ariadne couldn't place, but it disappeared quickly. He smiled. "Arthur is a boring bastard. Can't have any fun with him. So we went our seperate ways. He met Cobb and stuck with him, I went off on my own." Ariadne nodded.

"Okay... So, I'll ask for the third time. Why are you here?" Arthur cleared his throat.

"We needed to make sure you were okay. Cobol Engineering, you know the firm that hired myself and Cobb to extract Saito?" Ariadne nodded, letting Arthur continue. "Well, they were tailing Eames, and we knew if they were tailing him, they could be after you, too." Ariadne nodded.

"So that's who that was," Both men widened their eyes and Ariadne shrugged.

"I noticed it. Thats why I came here. I didn't want to leave Paris, but I knew I had to move. So I used a fake name and moved to the other side of the city." Arthur smiled.

"Glad you listened to my advice," Ariadne smiled back at him, and he took a breath.

"We also need to get them off our backs, so if you're up to it, we need an architect for a job." Ariadne glared unexpectedly and Arthur frowned.

"I just told you that I'm finally getting back to normal and you're here to drag me back?" Eames coughed.

"You are the best in the world right now. Plus you'll have comfort in knowing you'll be helping get Cobol out of the picture," Ariadne shook her head.

"No. I'm sorry, I want to. But I'm finally getting to a place where I'm ready to live the rest of my life. I can't screw that up now. I have the finals of my degree coming up. I can't afford to fuck everything up now." Arthur sighed.

"Eames she's right. It wasn't fair for us to ask her." Eames began to protest but Arthur stood and pulled him to the door. "No Eames. Ariadne, I'm glad you're doing well. If you ever need anything, give me a call." He walked out of the door and Eames huffed.

"Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed." Then he smiled and regained his posture. Thinking to himself, he came to a conclusion in his head and smiled again. "I hope you find some peace, Ariadne," He patted her on the shoulder.

"You too, Eames. I missed you. I hope you're okay." She smiled weakly at him. "Take care of yourself." Eames nodded.

"You too. Goodbye, Ariadne."

* * *

Arthur held his head in his hands as he sat in the hotel room on the other side of Paris. Eames watched him with curiosity, keeping an eye out for any sort of imminent breakdown from the formerly clear headed Point Man.

"Arthur."

Arthur looked up at Eames and narrowed his eyes.

"What?" Eames rolled his own eyes at this and shook his head.

"You realise we're going to have to do _something_ to get Cobol off our backs, don't you?" Arthur sighed.

"I know. I just don't know what to do. I was thinking we do an extraction on the CEO, get some information that's worth leverage to get them to agree to leave us alone if we don't release the information. But if we do that, we're going to need a new extractor." He paused, frowning slightly and spoke with a smaller voice. "And a new architect..." Eames nodded, his eyes moving forward slightly in thought.

"I do know where we can find an extractor," His eyes sparkled a little. "I bumped into Lizzy back in England. She's not on the run anymore." Arthur looked torn between shock and amusement.

"I didn't think Lizzy was in the field anymore, after what happened? She told the both of us that she was going back to live in Manchester and didn't want anything to do with the business anymore." Arthur looked over at Eames who laughed a little.

"Oh yes, she did say that, but you know what it's like, you have a couple of years break and all of a sudden you get an itch," Arthur nodded slowly at this.

"Well then, get in contact with her. I've missed her. Since the three of us stopped working together I haven't seen her." Eames smiled.

"Will do. Although, don't you think it'll be awkward? After what happened?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know. But, if she's willing to work through it, I am. I'm thinking we'll probably have to Murray on as an Arcitect, he's the best we'll be able to grab at such short notice." Eames visibly cringed.

"I hate that guy. He's so arrogant and ignorant and pompous- What?" He looked at Arthur's slightly amused face.

"I'm just having fun listening to you describe someone else in pretty much the exact way I would describe you." Eames narrowed his eyes.

"How very charming of you Arthur." He shrugged. "Well, I may be those things, but at least I'm not a selfish prick like Murray is, Arthur," Arthur nodded.

"I know he's not the nicest guy out there, but he is the best Architect out there that we can get on this kind of notice. It's not like we can ask Ariadne." Arthur looked down at his shoes and Eames cleared his throat.

"Was there something more between you two other than the teacher-student relationship of a Point Man and his Architect? Because you seem awfully down at the fact she won't be around anymore." Arthur shook his head forcefully.

"No. Of course not. Now, shut up Eames, because we need to go and find Lizzy and Murray." Eames smiled a little.

"I'll go and get Lizzy. You find Murray, I've got a little job to do. Meet back here in a week?" Eames asked, and Arthur nodded.

* * *

Ariadne stared up at the ceiling. It had been six days since Eames and Arthur had barged into her apartment and she had unceremoniously ordered them right back out of her life once more. It wasn't because she didn't miss them, she did. Especially Arthur...

No.

She wouldn't let herself think about him like that again. Besides, there was only ever one kiss...

_"It was worth a shot..."_

He made it sound as if it was an experiment. Given the fact he never mentioned it again, or expressed any desire to elevate their relationship, Ariadne figured that it was an experiment gone wrong. She sighed.

It wasn't as if she didn't want to create again - she did. More than anything... But she couldn't help but be selfish in wanting to be sane again.

It had been six days. She carried on going to University, going about her normal life.

Then there was a knock on the door.

She sat up from her bed slowly, eyeing the front door. She approached the door slowly, and walked over towards the spy hole that sat in the center of the door.

No-one was there.

Then there was another knock.

She narrowed her eyes and opened up the door, keeping her foot at the bottom so the door was impossible to open more than a few inches. She didn't see anyone outside and opened it a little wider.

"Ariadne." She jumped at the sound and turned the other way to see Eames leaning against the wall next to her door.

"Eames! What the hell? Couldn't you stand in front of the door like a normal person?" She rolled her eyes and opened the door a little wider to let him in. "Come in." She motioned towards the living room and he wandered inside, shutting the door closed behind him. She stared expectantly at him until she realised he was waiting for her to talk. "Eames, what are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you." Was his answer, and Ariadne rolled her eyes.

"I told you Eames. I miss you. I do. I miss dreaming. But I can't go through the withdrawal again." Eames nodded.

"I know. That's why I have a proposition. What do you say, that after this job, we team up. I don't know where Arthur would stand with the offer, but even if he declined... A forger and an architect taking over the world," He snickered and plopped into a chair. "You can be my permanent Architect for jobs. That way, there is no withdrawal." Ariadne bit her lip.

"How exactly do you manage to be so convincing sometimes, Mr Eames?" Eames laughed.

"I do try, my dear." His face then sobered. "I want to work with you again. You're one of the most talented Architects I've ever known, and it would be a honor to partner up with you." Ariadne sighed again.

"Suck up some more," She smiled and Eames frowned.

"What do you mean?" Ariadne laughed.

"Compliments. Grovelling. I want more. Maybe, then I'll consider it." Eames flung himself to the floor and attached himself to her leg.

"Oh! Great Mistress of the Maze, please, I beg of you, join me in our dream quest! I must have your immeasurable talent, charming wit, and irresistable good looks. Together we shall rule the world!" Ariadne laughed and slapped him in the head.

"Fine. Let me pack my stuff."


	3. Chapter Three

"So, you're saying that Arthur has absolutely no idea you came to ask me to be on the team?" Ariadne asked Eames as they walked towards the abandoned shop that Arthur had aquired as a base for their plans. Eames nodded happily.

"Exactly. He would've gone all mopey and paranoid had I told him, and would've fallen into some sort of self pity, convinced you wouldn't come. So I decided to do this myself. Besides, everyone likes me more, so I was guaranteed to be a better convincer than him," Ariadne laughed slightly.

"So sure of yourself, Eames." Eames nodded.

"Of course. I don't believe in arrogance, I just believe in high confidence." Ariadne laughed again. They approached a simple looking building, the windows boarded up, and the door locked. Eames pulled out a key and unlocked the door. "Now, you'll meet our extractor, Lizzy. Remember Arthur saying that we used to work together with an extractor?" Ariadne nodded.

"Yeah, then something happened and the three of you split?" Eames nodded in return.

"Yes. Well, Lizzy is that extractor. It's all a very long story. It'll be explained to you someday, but, she's amazing at what she does. On a par with Cobb, although he won't admit it." Ariadne laughed. Eames continued. "You'll also meet who _was_ going to be the Architect, Murray. Good god it's going to give me so much satisfaction to be able to kick him out. Not only that, but kick him out and announce he's being replaced by a twenty-three year old girl," Ariadne shrugged.

"I kind of feel bad, I mean, I said no to the job, and then just to come waltzing back and replacing your Architect, it doesn't seem very nice." Eames copied her motion and shrugged.

"Who cares, you're the best Architect out there, so it doesn't matter." He walked through a room connecting to the entrance hallway, and looked around a corner. "Oh, please let me have some fun with this. I want this to be a grand entrance." Ariadne raised an eyebrow and looked over to Eames.

"What _are _you talking about?" Eames smiled a little.

"Well dearest, it's not often I get to give Arthur a near heart attack, and I want to make the most of it..." Eames narrowed his eyes in thought. "Okay, leave it to me, just make sure you waltz into the room when I nod to you." Ariadne rolled her eyes, but agreed nonetheless. She watched Eames round the corner into the main room, and she watched around the corner as he approached the other three people in the shop. Arthur was the first to turn around and spot him, and the other two people that Ariadne didn't recognise watched as he approached.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Eames." Arthur mumbled, looking down to the folder in his hands. "I was beginning to wonder if you got lost." Eames shrugged.

"I had a job to accomplish." He turned towards the other man in the room, who Ariadne assumed was Murray. "I was aquiring an Architect for the job." Arthur looked up again and wrinkled his eyebrows together, as did Murray.

"What are you talking about Eames? We're using Murray, you know that." Eames smiled a little.

"Oh I know we were going to, but I managed to snag us a much better Architect," He looked back at Murray. "No offence, Jason." Murray narrowed his eyes.

"You must be kidding me, you know as well as I do that there's no-one out there better than me that you can get without months of waiting." Arthur nodded at this.

"He's right Eames, Murray is the best Architect in France," Eames shook his head.

"No, he isn't. He may be good, but I know someone a hell of a lot better." The girl who was sat on a chair next to Arthur narrowed her eyes.

"Who?" She asked, and Eames smiled back at her.

"Well my dear Lizzy, it's someone young, not completely experienced, but bloody good at what needs to be done. Better than Murray, anyway," Murray hissed a little.

"I'm not getting kicked out for some pre-teen idiot kid. I was promised a big share for this job, I'm not letting some greasy college kid take that away from me." Eames smiled again.

"Tough shit," He said, and nodded to where Ariadne was standing. She smiled a little and walked out from the small room that was adjacent to the others. "Like I said, this someone is simply better than you, Murray," He looked up at Ariadne and the other faces in the room turned their heads to see what he was looking at. Ariadne smiled.

"Hey there," She said, and watched as Arthur's eyes widened, and Murray and Lizzy's eyes narrowed in confusion. Eames smiled wickedly and crossed his arms with a triumphant expression on his face.

"Arthur, I believe you know Ariadne, the best Architect I know," Eames smiled again as Arthur grinned. Murray spoke up after a few moments of silence.

"This kid? Seriously? A girl? What the hell is wrong with you? This kid doesn't look as if she could design a maze to catch Scooby fucking Doo," Lizzy rolled her eyes.

"Don't be a snobby little bitch Jason. Hey," She nodded towards Ariadne. "I'm Lizzy. And if Eames is serious about this, I'll be your project manager." Ariadne smiled and Murray coughed.

"You can't be fucking serious. Arthur what the hell? You really gonna' let Eames do this? I was expecting a good payout for this job!" Arthur swivelled his head and glared at Murray.

"Shut it. You're out. Anyone else would've been told that you were here first. But Ariadne is different." Murray glared back at Arthur.

"How so? Some little princess thats barely out of her crib isn't going to kick me out of this job," Eames stood and walked over to Murray.

"Listen you pompous little git, this girl has only ever worked one job. That may sound silly, but do you want to know what that one job was? Her first ever job, without any proper training, was a _successful _Inception, three layers of dream, plus an unexpected vacation in Limbo. So shut your pie hole and piss off, because this _princess _has done a bigger job than all your jobs put together. Comprende?" Murray glared and stood, grabbing his jacket and heading towards the door.

"Arthur, you owe me now. This is ridiculous and uncalled for, and I'll be in touch for payback, believe me." He waltzed out of the room and slammed the door, leaving a short period of silence in his wake. Arthur then turned to Ariadne and smiled timidly.

"So, you're back," He muttered, and Ariadne took a seat on the vacated chair that Murray had left.

"I am. Eames convinced me. He said we could team up so I wouldn't have to go back to my depressing life." Ariadne looked up at Arthur and he frowned a little.

"How do you mean?" Ariadne shrugged.

"Eames wants me and him to partner up after this. Well, you too, if you're interested," Arthur nodded slowly.

"I am interested. With Cobb gone I find myself dragging my feet these days. If that's what you guys want then I'm in. As long as you can keep Eames entertained, I really don't have the patience to put up with him nowadays." Ariadne smiled and nodded. Arthur took a deep breath. "Thankyou, Ariadne. We really do needed someone as talented as you on this. It won't be easy." Ariadne turned her head as Lizzy cleared her throat.

"Well, this is all very touching, but we're really going to have to get started if we're going to get this job done. Ariadne," Ariadne looked over at Lizzy when her name was mentioned. "You and me will go under for a few minutes. I want to see what you can do. You've got five minutes to think up a little maze in your head, and I'll see how fast I can get through when we're under. No paper, you're designing it in your head. I want to see what you can improvise on the spot right now." Ariadne nodded slowly and closed her eyes, designing a few different ideas in her head. Lizzy stood and grabbed a suitcase, opening it to reveal a PASIV device, which she unhooked and began setting up.

While thinking of different mazes, Ariadne took a moment to take in Lizzy's appearance. She sighed slightly. She was always getting shadowed by girls like her. She was tall, with blonde hair down to her waist. Blue eyes, a soft face, tiny waist and sufficient chest size. Lizzy was beautiful, British, well dressed, classy, and Ariadne guessed that she was probably a badass, being an Extractor. Ariadne screamed internally. Was she destined to be surrounded by model types her entire life? Plus, it seemed as if she had a history with both men, and Ariadne suddenly felt a tightness in her chest at the thought of having to compete with Lizzy for Arthurs affections.

Arthur glared at Eames, who in turn shrugged innocently. Arthur mouthed _you, me, talk, _at him, and Eames smiled sweetly before looking over at Lizzy who had just cleared her throat once more.

"Okay, let's go." She aimed at Ariadne, who nodded and inserted a needle into her wrist. Lizzy nodded at Arthur, who smiled at her and nodded in return before pressing the buttton on the device.

Once Ariadne and Lizzy were under, Arthur snapped his head to Eames, and hissed a little.

"What the _hell, _Eames?!" He narrowed his eyes and Eames shrugged innocently again.

"I have no idea why you're so pissed, Arthur," He smiled evilly again and Arthur sighed.

"Could you not have told me you were going to try and bring her here?" He snapped, and Eames shook his head.

"Oh come on Arthur, if I had told you, would you have gone for it? You weren't going to try and convince her again. I figured you would be good cop and leave her to stew. I, on the other hand, decided that the two of you needed your heads banging together and that she should be our Architect for this job. Not only do you two get to catch up, but she also gets the opportunity to get back in the business. Look, don't glare at me like that. Don't pretend you didn't want to see her again. You also know that us teaming up with her will be a great career move." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"That's not the point. I just would have liked to know, that's all." He slumped backwards and folded his arms, his eyes drifting over to where Ariadne was sleeping. "Of course I wanted to work with her again." Eames nodded.

"Well then, this way you get to explore, well, whatever the hell relationship the two of you have. Just, don't get all mushy in front of Lizzy. You know she won't like it."

* * *

"Right then you, let's see what you can do. Place looks good, I can already see you've got an eye for beauty." Lizzy smiled at Ariadne and turned towards the city that was in front of her. Half of the place was full of skyscapers and office buildings, and the other half was full of houses and smaller shops and buildings. The road curved off to the left into a field with a childrens playground, and behind the field was what appeared to be the ocean. Ariadne smiled appriciatively at the compliment and looked expectantly at Lizzy.

"So, do you want me to just follow you?" Lizzy nodded.

"Sure. But one thing first," She smiled. "I notice you've built half the city with skyscrapers. My mind is begging to go over there and look at them. They're lovely. However," She smiled again. "You did that on purpose right? Draw my eye away from the small half of the city to make me go into the larger half and get lost." She laughed. "So, I think I'll go over here, where the smaller buildings are," Ariadne frowned at the fact that Lizzy had discovered her first decoy, and nodded solemnly. Lizzy laughed again. "Don't worry, not many people would spot it. I just know what I'm looking for when I'm trying to get through a maze." She set off to the left, with Ariadne following. She sighed, placing her hands in her pockets.

"So, you seem to have a couple of fans in our dear Arthur and Eames. I'm not surprised either, if you managed to design a successful three layer Inception. Bloody difficult job to do. I'm impressed." Ariadne smiled a little.

"Thanks. I was so blown away by the whole concept of shared dreaming I think my mind just ran away with me. I was able to use a lifetime of work on one job." Lizzy nodded.

"Well, whatever the reason, you're good. I'm already starting to feel lost." She looked around and frowned a little, before turning back the way they came and turning left. She sighed again. "So, you seem close with Arthur," She mentioned, and turned her head to Ariadne who shrugged.

"Well, I mean, we got sort of close on the Inception job, but we haven't really spoken in about six months." Lizzy raised an eyebrow.

"Fair enough," She sighed a little and looked up at the buildings they were passing. Ariadne skewed her mouth to the side.

"So, how do you know Arthur?" She asked, and Lizzy smiled.

"Well, it was Eames I met first. I grew up in England, and I didn't really travel. So I took odd jobs I could find around the UK. Met Eames in Surrey when I was 17, and worked with him for about a year before he introduced me to Arthur who needed a forger and an extractor for a job. Worked together as a team for years with the two of them. Haven't seen either of them in about Four years, though. This is the first job I've done in that time." Ariadne frowned.

"Why?" She asked, and Lizzy stiffened slightly.

"It doesn't matter." She gulped and looked around, noticing the cottage in front of them. She smiled. "Quaint. Center of the maze?" Ariadne nodded. "Nice. Good work for an unexpected job. Well done." Ariadne looked pleased again and they heard bangs in the distance and a faint voice. "That'll be the music." She turned to Ariadne and smiled again. "Well, welcome to the team. I actually like you, which is odd for me. I don't generally like people on the first meeting. Anyway, nice to have you on board, Ariadne." She nodded politely and the two felt a tug that pulled them towards the music.

_Non, je ne regrette rien..._


	4. Chapter Four

**Authors Note: Is there anything you would like in particular from this story? Ideas on where you want certain relationships to go, things you want to happen, scenes you would like to see? Leave a review and I'll try and work them in, as I want this to be an interactive story. I have an outline but things can always bend to fit in your wishes for the characters. You get a say in what happens!**

**I would like to thank_ bitterlolly, aubreee_, and _flimmer_ for their reviews.**

* * *

Ariadne opened her eyes slowly, to find Arthur taking the needle from her arm, and Lizzy in her chair with Eames muttering something in her ear. Arthur looked up as Ariadne sighed, and he smiled lightly.

"Welcome back, I assume you impressed Lizzy, she looked pleased when she woke," Ariadne nodded.

"I suppose so. It wasn't my best work, was the best I could come up with in a few minutes." She sighed again, and Arthur smiled once more.

"Well Lizzy knows a good team member when she finds one, she's one of the best extractors out there, she knows how to lead a team and find good assets. So if you impressed her then we know we were right when we said you were good." He looked back at Ariadne, who blushed lightly and pulled her arm away. Arthur sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about-" Ariadne held her hand up to stop him from talking.

"I don't want to talk about the last six months, Arthur. I told you everything. I was lost and alone, but I'm back, and I'm okay." She took a breath. "But, for what it's worth, I'm not angry at you, Arthur. You were doing your job by making sure everyone stayed out of contact." Arthur smiled before looking over at Lizzy and Eames, who were sorting out files a few metres away. "Lizzy, do you have any idea how we're going to handle this case?" Lizzy nodded.

"I've written up a basic plan, obviously it will all come together when you three give your input. Arthur I've taken the research you gave me about this guy at Cobol, and hopefully we've got something good going here." Arthur nodded in return, and turned his head to Eames as Eames spoke.

"Also dear Ariadne, we need you to get to work on sketches as soon as we finish explaining the job." Ariadne nodded at Eames.

"Will do." She returned, and Lizzy plopped herself on a chair.

"Okay, so here's the deal. The mark is a Mr Julian Singer. He is the son of Cobol CEO Samuel Singer. Rumour has it that Julian has a lot of dirt under his belt, dirt that relates directly to the company. Samuel tells him everything, as he wants Julian to take over as CEO some day. So, he is our weak link. A teenage boy with all the Cobol secrets. It's the easiest way to get in." Arthur nodded and grabbed a few folders from Lizzy, handing them to Ariadne and Eames. Ariadne opened her folder and held her breath.

"So, what exactly are we trying to get a hold of?" Lizzy shrugged.

"Anything really. Anything that if it was public knowledge, it would hurt the business. Something we can use as leverage to keep them off your backs for good." She took a breath. "Arthur, I hope you realise how much I'm risking here. You already got Eames and Ariadne involved in their search for you, if this goes wrong, I'm in the firing line too." Arthur frowned.

"I know, and you have no idea how much I appriciate it, Lizzy. Really." Lizzy smiled gently.

"I should hope so. Either way, you owe me after this. I'm sure you paying for a nice dinner for me would suffice, seeing as I'm completely broke." Arthur laughed.

"Sounds like a plan." Ariadne frowned at the two. She knew they had worked together for a few years, but she was starting to get the feeling that their relationship bordered on something more than friendship. She didn't like it.

_Why did she care?_

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Of course she shouldn't care. It's not like there was ever anything between her and Arthur. Just one kiss. Even that barely even counted as contact. It was too brief.

_Stop it, Ariadne. _Her thoughts were interrupted by Eames.

"So it'll just be a simple extraction?" Lizzy nodded. "Arthur, will there be any gunfire this time? I trust you worked a little harder on figuring that out a little better this time." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Yes Eames, he is trained. So yes, we'll need to be careful. But this time we're only going two layers deep so we don't need a sedative. So we won't risk taking a trip to limbo." Lizzy sighed.

"Thank god," She muttered, and Ariadne nodded.

"Yeah. Trust me, I've been there, and it's not pleasant." The other three exchanged looks, before Ariadne frowned at the seemingly secretive vibe in the room. "What did I say?" Arthur shook his head.

"It's nothing." He muttered, turning back to the paperwork. Eames rolled his eyes.

"Do you not think she should know? She was pissed when Cobb kept things from her," Lizzy glared at Eames slightly.

"Not now, Eames." Ariadne looked back and forth from the other members of the team, becoming increasingly confused.

"What's going on?" She asked, and Lizzy sighed.

"Look, it's nothing important, honestly. Right Eames?" Eames huffed.

"I suppose not." He muttered, folding his arms like a child and looking over at Arthur who had just spoken up.

"Right children, can we get back to business?" He said. "I believe we have work to do." Ariadne looked back at Arthur.

"So I'm designing two levels, right?" Arthur nodded.

"Take a look through the paperwork and decide what you think we might need. I'll come and have a look at what you've done in a few hours." Ariadne nodded and watched closely as Lizzy turned to Arthur and began conversing with him out of earshot. She frowned slightly and wandered over to her work desk. She heard footsteps after a few minutes and turned to find Eames heading towards her. She noticed the rest of the room was empty.

"Hey Eames. Where did those two go?" She asked. She tried to seem natural, but the sentence came out of her mouth more like a worried growl. Eames smiled lightly.

"No idea. Probably to discuss tactics. Those two work well together. They bounce ideas off each other all the time." He looked down at Ariadne's work. "Working well," He muttered, fingering a few pieces of paper that Ariadne had sketched on. She skewed her mouth to the side and sighed.

"So, what was all that about? The little argument between you three?" She asked, and Eames took a deep breath.

"Something I believe you should know, but it's a touchy subject. She'll tell you eventually, but it's not something myself or Arthur should tell you without her consent. Let's just say her and Cobb are more alike than you know."

"How so?" Eames smiled.

"Like I said, she has to tell you herself. I'll work on convincing her to tell you, but in the mean time, show me these layouts."


	5. Chapter Five

_**One week later**_

Ariadne had been working hard on her designs - designs that she hoped would impress the team, especially Arthur and Lizzy. She began to really enjoy spending time with their new extractor, which was a turn of events she wasn't expecting. Lizzy's calm attitude regarding the job had made her realise just how pushy and insistent Cobb really was when they had been working on Inception. She knew it was because he wanted to go back to America, back to his children, but she realised now how much easier it was to work in the team when they weren't being bossed around by an impatient Extractor.

Ariadnes first impression of Lizzy had been off mark. She was intimidated by Lizzy's appearance at first, but she soon found that Lizzy had a similar air as Eames - laid back, easy going, and funny. Her charm was similar too, and the other members of the team responded well to her light attitude. The only problem Ariadne had found with this was Arthurs eager response to Lizzy. Arthur had a stillness around him when they worked together, and Ariadne was starting to read into it further and further. She knew they had a past, and she knew she had no right to be jealous or paranoid about their relationship, but it seemed as if whenever Eames would try and talk to Lizzy, she would melt further towards Arthur and ignore anything that Eames wanted to say.

However, other than her reservations about the ongoing mystery surrounding her, Ariadne found Lizzy to be someone she enjoyed the company of. She was definitely fun to be around, and made a nice change to be able to talk to a girl about their business. After coming back from the Fischer job, she found all of her old girlfriends were boring, ditzy, and generally annoying. She had missed the conversations with adults. This was something she got with Lizzy.

After a while of dithering about the subject, Ariadne decided to get some answers. She wasn't one to hide in the shadows, and when she wanted information, she would get it. The Inception job had her sneaking into Dom's thoughts, so her desision to go after answers regarding Lizzy and Arthur's relationship, and answers to what big secret Lizzy had, didn't faze her.

"Eames," She snuck up on the lounging Forger, and he caught himself before he fell back on his chair.

"Ariadne for the love of god don't do that," Ariadne snickered a little and plopped herself into a chair next to where Eames was pretending to work.

"Eames," She repeated, and he looked up from his blank screened laptop.

"Yes, what brings your lovely presence over here?" He asked, and she shrugged.

"I was just wondering," She paused, thinking of a way to properly word her question. "You know, Arthur and Lizzy seem to be really close, anything going on there?" She attempted to sound relaxed. She failed. Eames smirked a little.

"Oh, Ariadne you really are quite obvious you know," He smiled again. "Well, you have nothing to worry about. They are close, but nothing in regards to the kind of relationship you're thinking about." Ariadne raised an eyebrow. "They're basically brother and sister. Lizzy has saved Arthur's arse more times than I can count, and vice versa. They're close, but I think the two of them would rather pick their own eyes out before they dated each other. It's like the relationship between you and me." Ariadne scoffed.

"I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." Eames shrugged.

"Take it however you want, my dear." Ariadne laughed. Inside she was sighing with relief.

"Fair enough," She mentioned, and looked over at Eames who had a sudden frown on his face. "What?" She asked, and he shrugged.

"Nothing, I simply get the feeling that you're not finished interrogating me," Ariadne smiled a little.

"Okay you caught me." She sighed. "What is this big secret that Lizzy has? It's starting to get on my nerves that I'm the only one who doesn't know." Eames attached a one sided smile to his face.

"Like I said before, Lizzy is the only one with the right to tell you that. However, I have been working on breaking her down about it. One second," He stood from his chair and wandered over to the door of the next room, where Lizzy and Arthur were working. "Oi, Liz, Ariadne is fed up with being left in the dark, you going to tell her or am I going to have to force it out of you?" Ariadne watched as Lizzy's head poked around the doorframe.

"Fine, Eames, give me a minute," She rolled her eyes and disappeared back into the room, where Arthur appeared seconds later.

"Ariadne," He smiled. "You really need to start minding your own business," Ariadne was about to defend herself before she looked up at him and saw amusement in his eyes. "I'm kidding," he laughed, and chose a seat next to Ariadne. "How are the designs coming along?" Ariadne smiled slightly.

"Great, I'll show you later, I think they might even be better than the designs for the Fischer job," Arthur nodded gratefully.

"Sounds good. Listen, I'm going stir crazy sitting in this dump twenty-four seven, do you fancy dinner later? My treat," Ariadne gulped slightly and nodded.

"Sure, Lizzy and Eames coming?" She asked, and Arthur shook his head.

"I think they might need some time to themselves, Eames hasn't exactly been in Lizzy's good books lately," Ariadne frowned.

"Why?" She asked, and Arthur sighed.

"I'll tell you later, at dinner. We'll go at about Eight, okay?" Ariadne nodded, letting a smile creep onto her face. She wouldn't call it a date. It wasn't a date.

"Ariadne," Her head turned at the sound of Lizzy's voice, and she smiled again.

"Yeah, hi," Ariadne answered, and Lizzy looked expectantly back at her.

"So, what is it that you want to know?" She asked, and Ariadne skewed her lip to the side.

"I just want to know what the big secret is. I feel like I'm being kept in the dark not knowing," Lizzy sat in a chair opposite and folded her arms, sighing softly and then smiling lightly.

"Fine. Well, I'm sure you know the story of Dom's little adventure in Limbo with Mal," Ariadne nodded. "Well, let's just say the only reason Cobb knew how to get himself out from there was because he knew someone who had been there before him." Ariadne frowned.

"Who?" Lizzy sighed again.

"Me. I was stuck in Limbo about a year before Dom. I was there quite a bit longer, too. Going on ninety years, actually." Ariadne widened her eyes. She watched as the tension in the room grew, and she looked at Eames and Arthur who looked uncomfortable. Lizzy noticed and rolled her eyes. "Ignore those two, they feel guilty whenever this story gets brought up," Ariadne frowned.

"Why?" Arthur turned to her.

"Because when Lizzy got stuck in Limbo, it was Eames and I who were supposed to be watching over her. She went in as an experiment, and she ended up being stupid and trying to go four levels deep without a sedative." Ariadne raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't think even three levels was possible without a sedative," Lizzy nodded.

"It's not, but I was young and naive. I had been in the business for Five years, that time spent with Arthur and Eames being like my guides. When I said I wanted to try going two levels deep, they fought tooth and nail to stop me, but they gave in. What I didn't tell them was that I had already successfully done two levels, and was stupid enough to try for four," Ariadne saw the two men stiffen up again. Arthur spoke when he saw Eames fold his arms.

"We didn't know she was doing that, so we let her go under. After two hours of us waiting up top we knew something was wrong. We tried waking her but nothing would work." Eames sighed.

"She'd fallen into a coma. Gone into limbo from pushing herself too far." Lizzy nodded.

"I know you took a quick trip down there when you were on the Inception job, but you went down there with Cobb. So you visited the place that had been left behind by him. So at least you had some kind of view of a place." She sighed. "When I went down there was nothing. No ground, no sky. Just pure space. Nothing. I didn't even know which way was up," Ariadne widened her eyes again.

"And you were there for ninety years?" Lizzy nodded, and Arthur pursed his lips.

"It was only about a week at our level. But when she came out she was different. Didn't even know her own name." Eames shifted uncomfortably.

"Made us feel like shit," He mumbled, and Lizzy frowned in his direction.

"Like I've said a million times, it wasn't your fault." Eames shrugged. Arthur sighed.

"Anyway, we spent months getting her to remember. It was almost a year before she finally completely recovered herself," Lizzy nodded again.

"So after that happened, the three of us split. Arthur blamed Eames for what happened, Eames blamed Arthur, I was trying to get them to realise it wasn't either of their faults, and we just broke apart." Lizzy nodded to the two men. "That's why they're at each others throats all the time. Never got over that little tiff of theirs." Eames folded him arms indignantly.

"It's not my fault Arthurs got no personality," Arthur glared.

"It's not my fault you've got no brains," Lizzy rolled her eyes.

"Like I said, they never got back to their friendly old ways." She sighed. "A while after that, I heard through the grapevine that Dom mentioned he was going to explore different levels with Mal. I warned him not to, I told him how easy it was to get lost down there, but he didn't listen. The rest as they say is history." Ariadne took a deep breath.

"Wow. I'm sorry you had to go through that-" Lizzy interrupted her.

"Don't be silly. I was young and naive and thought I could handle anything. I didn't know what would happen because I was stubborn, and refused to believe that Eames and Arthur knew better than me. I wanted to prove that I was better at the job because I was a stuck up bitch back then. In some ways I'm glad it happened, because I think if it hadn't I wouldn't have changed. And I'm sure Eames and Arthur would hate me. I was a pretty horrible person back then," Arthur nodded vigorously.

"She was a cow," Lizzy gaped and threw a pen at his face, which Arthur caught easily. "Don't throw things, it's not nice." Ariadne laughed, before noticing that Eames was sulking in his chair. She looked back at Arthur and Lizzy.

"Excuse me for a minute," She mentioned, and the two nodded as she walked over to Eames' chair. She slapped him in the arm a little and nodded at him. "What's wrong with you?" She asked, and he rolled his eyes, standing to walk over to Ariadne's work space.

"I hate that story. I've always felt guilty about it," Ariadne smiled.

"But Lizzy doesn't blame you, she blames herself, that's obvious," Eames nodded.

"I know, but if I'd have been better to her -" Eames widened his eyes and looked back at Ariadne. "I mean, I, you know, a better friend." Ariadne narrowed her eyes.

"Eames, what aren't you telling me?" He shook his head.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Ariadne slapped him in the arm again.

"You're a liar. Tell me." Eames sighed dramatically.

"It's nothing. We had a, thing, a while ago. It's under the rug now though darling so no need to worry," He smiled unconvincingly and shuffled over to his abandoned laptop. Ariadne took another deep breath.

_I believe there's more digging to be done here..._


End file.
